Georgetown University May Force Students to Pay Slavery Reparations Through Fees

The concept of reparations has been floating around the fringes of social justice and identitarian groups for ages now, but as radicalism is now in fashion, reparations are apparently on the docket at Georgetown University as something you will be forced to fork over.

The idea for reparations is simple. If you’re white, you owe black people money for slavery in the United States, with others making excuses such as the “rape” of Africa for its resources.

According to College Fix, Georgetown University has taken the idea of reparations to heart, and will soon vote on whether or not it will force its students to pay for slavery through a student fee:

Its student government recently authorized a campuswide student referendum on whether to establish a fund for the families of the 272 men, women and children sold by Georgetown in 1838.

If approved, the semesterly fee would begin to be collected in the fall of 2020 and start at $27.20 per student “in honor of the 272 people sold by Georgetown,” states the student government resolution approving the referendum, a copy of which was obtained Wednesday by The College Fix.

“The proceeds of the GU272 Reconciliation Contributions will be allocated for charitable purposes directly benefiting the descendants of the GU272 and other persons once enslaved by the Maryland Jesuits — with special consideration given to causes and proposals directly benefiting those descendants still residing in proud and underprivileged communities,” the resolution stated.

In other words, Georgetown students who had nothing to do with the slave trade from generations ago will be forced to pay for the mistakes of an institution whose administration had nothing to do with the slave trade either. The students are essentially forcing people to pay for something they’re innocent of because of their proximity to campus.

No matter how you slice it, the very idea of reparations is a racist concept. White people in today’s United States have never owned a slave. Even their ancestors, who lived during the time of slavery, are more than likely to have never owned a slave themselves. According to an 1860 census, the total number of slave owners in America was 8 percent.

Assuming that every white person is guilty of something only the moderately wealthy to uber-wealthy are guilty of simply off the color of their skin is racism by its very definition. If the tables were reversed, and I demanded repayment for the enslavement of over a million whites by North Africans during the Barbary slave trade, I would be considered a racist loon, and rightfully so.

Let’s not discount the fact that there were many black slave owners in the United States as well that are being completely ignored. Duke University historian, John Hope Franklin, notes that over 3,000 black Americans owned slaves in New Orleans alone. That was 28% of the free blacks in that city. I don’t see anyone asking the descendants of those families to repay the descendants of the enslaved families.

The concept of reparations is a ridiculous idea based on ignorance and racism, and forcing innocent students to give up their money in order to pay for something they never did should be laughed off by anyone in a position of authority. In today’s academic environment, however, ignorance and hatred rule the day.